Panel for a cabinet door

Object Details

Description

Small panel of embroidery in high relief of a tree in an oval with an elaborate framework. The field is filled by an oak tree with dimensional leaves in shades of green. The trunk and branches are very dimensional, and are worked in silver metallic thread, now tarnished. At the base of the tree is a salamander, also in silver metallic thread. The background shows a landscape worked in pale silks with mountains and buildings, possibly a monastery. From the limbs of the tree hang crutches, a wax leg, and a censer.

The oval is surrounded by a row of coral beads and two rows of couched metal thread. The framework is embroidered with plant forms; in the two upper corners are coiled serpents, and in the two lower corners serpents emerge from cornucopias. The framework is accented accented throughout with coral beads and edged with a scalloped lace, probably added later.

Credit Line

Gift of Marian Hague

late 16th–early 17th century

Accession Number

1959-144-1

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

embroidery & stitching

Panel for a cabinet door

Medium

Medium: silk, metal wire, metal strips, coral beads, cotton, linen Technique: raised embroidery Label: silk embroidered with silk, metal threads and coral beads

Dimensions

H x W: 33 x 28 cm (13 x 11 in.)

made in

France or Flanders

See more items in

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection

Textiles Department

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Record ID

chndm_1959-144-1

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kq4296e32b1-06e9-4087-b68c-e770fd42314b